30 
The Farm of 31. Rodat. 
double entry ; 4, the improvement of wet lands by covered drains 
and deep cultivation ; 5, irrigation and the conversion of dry into 
water-meadows ; 6, grubbing, paring, and burning, combined 
with manuring. He might have added (it is said), the publica- 
tion of the 'Cultivatenr Aveyronais,' a model for agricultural 
literature, M, Rodat placed his son under M, Dombasle's 
training, at Roville. The son there learned how to make im- 
proved implements, and, on his return, established works which 
supplied to the neighbourhood more than 2000 ploughs, harrows, 
&c., at their cost piice ! The Dombasle plough — as famous in 
France as any of our English make — thus at once superseded 
the Roman " aratrum," which had till then held its ground ; a 
like zeal for the public good prompted M. Rodat, Sen., to supply 
his neighbours gratuitously with the seeds of beet, carrots, &r. 
M. Rodat, Jun., has introduced the new Kent rams for his 
flock ; some of his sheep now weigh 2 cwt. when in store con- 
dition ; the clip of wool weighs 11 cwt. instead of 8 cwt. He 
first fatted beasts on oilcake, with roots, and sells them as high 
as 80Z. per pair. His corn is so clean and well dressed that it 
is mostly sold for seed. He has nearly doubled his supply of 
green food, and therefore doubled his number of large stock. 
His growth of corn is 1400 bushels (half wheat), instead of 
950 bushels, chiefly rye. The gold medal was awarded to him 
for his flock and sheep stalls. 
The next candidate, M. Rodat, of Druelle, belongs to the 
same family ; his property (535 acres) is in the " Ryeland," 
with the exception of 55 acres of poor calcareous soil. His first 
task was to clear the gorse, fern, and rushes from lands some of 
tohich icere houf/ht at 11. per acre in 1806 ; his next, by stone 
drains and irrigation, to conquer and utilise the waters ; the 
third step, which gave full effect to his previous labour, was to 
burn his own lime so as to make his poor calcareous land a mine 
of wealth for the farm at large : he now applies water, recently 
saturated with quicklime, to his meadows with great effect, 
thereby destroying the worms {les vers *). 
On this and other farms the chestnut woods, which of old con- 
tributed largely to the sustenance of the poor population, have 
been carefully set in order on the hill-sides, and modern hedges 
have been reared on the plain. 
Of large stock, 133 head are now kept instead of 15 ; and the 
yield of oats or rye is ten times the seed ; that of wheat five times 
the seed (this is significant). The income derived from the farm 
in 1853 was 120/. ; it is now from 600/. to 640/. A gold medal 
* If gnih generally are here meant, the hint may be useful ; if worms only, the 
benefit is doubtful. 
